


Everpresent

by mon_dieu



Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Telepathic Bond, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 13:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6009069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mon_dieu/pseuds/mon_dieu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where you can hear your soulmate’s thoughts by the time either one or both of you turn 18, Lee Taemin is awoken with quite the surprise at the age of 15.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everpresent

**Author's Note:**

> Word count: 5076  
> A/N: This was inspired by “Thoughts.” by the lovely taekaitbh on AFF, and the Soulmate!AU where you can hear your soulmate's thoughts.  
> A/N 2: This is a repost from my AFF account.

_“Not good enough, not good enough, not good enough”_

Taemin groggily sat up in bed. He heard a voice inside his head that was distinctly not his. Had he gone insane? He picked up his phone from where it was charging on his bedside table. The light was almost blinding him, but as his eyes got used to the light, he noticed that it was 3:45 AM. What was that stupid voice doing inside his head at 3:45 AM?

 

_“Why, voice, annoyed, tired, have, work”_

He flopped down on his mattress again. The voice spread thoughts around his head in a scattered manner. Apparently the voice had heard him as well, and apparently he sounded annoyed. Serves you right, Taemin thought. He just wanted to sleep. He had a math test today, and he needed to do well on it.

 

_“Math, no, not me, soulmate?”_

That’s when it hit him. He had heard his teacher rambling about this sometime last year, but he hadn’t really paid attention. Wasn’t this shit supposed to start once you’re 18? Taemin was really not feeling up to being a special case. _“Sleep, please. Sleep, please.”_ Taemin thought really hard.

 

 _“Fine, stop now, sleep.”_ The voice said resignedly.

Taemin almost felt bad about it. It sounded like he had some important work to do, and Taemin had just forced him to take a break. Him? Sounded like a him at least. Of the very limited things he remembered about the soulmate system, he did remember that the soulmate system didn’t care about gender, personality or looks. As long as this was someone you would be happy with you could get matched up with them. He’d ask his mother about it in the morning. It sounded like the voice had gone to sleep, so he chose to do the same.

 

***

 

It was 6:30 AM when his alarm went off. _“Ugh”_ was Taemin’s first thought of the day. He sat up. He had to go to shower, do he didn’t smell bad at school today, but right now he wanted the most to stay in bed for a couple more hours. Regardless of that he stood up, and stretched his limbs.

_“Voice, school, soulmate, sleepy?”_

 

Apparently the voice in his head had heard him wake up. _“’Morning”_ he thought, knowing that the person on the other side wouldn’t catch it if he said a complete phrase anyway. Taemin picked up some clothes and went to take his shower. On his way there he heard the voice in his head again.

 

_“Soulmate, why, awake, sleepy, early.”_

From what he could gather, his soulmate was still sleepy after having being woken up early. Oh how the tables have turned.

 

***

 

After he had finished his shower and gone downstairs to eat breakfast. At the breakfast table he found his mother, sipping on a cup of coffee.

 

“Hi. Ehm, Mum? Can I ask you something?” Taemin asked carefully. He started making himself some toast.

“Sure, honey. Is there anything wrong?” She looked at him, clearly concerned. Taemin was nervous but he wanted answers.

 

“You know the soulmate system right?” He started. His mother looked surprised, it was clearly not what she had been expecting at all. He continued. “Aren’t you supposed to start sharing your thoughts with your soulmate once you turn 18?” His mother gave him a knowing look.

“Did you start hearing somebody else’s thoughts in your head tonight?” She asked. Taemin nodded and went back to making breakfast.

 

“Well, to answer your question, no. You start sharing thoughts with your soulmate once either of you turn 18. If you started hearing another person’s voice inside your head, it just means that they happened to turn 18 sometime yesterday. It does often take a couple of hours until the thought process starts up, especially when the soulmates are of different ages.” Taemin’s mother spoke calmly, and she had a smile on her face. Taemin ate while pondering this new information.

 

“So, he’s 18? Three years older than me?” Taemin mumbled. Sure, he hadn’t really expected that, but it wasn’t that huge of an age difference. You heard stories about people hearing voices in their head at the age of 10, and sometimes even earlier. Of course those relationships didn’t start out romantic, but still, he was glad it wasn’t anything like that.

 

“Are you sure your soulmate’s a he?” His mother asked curiously. She didn’t look upset or anything.

“I’m not sure. He sounds like a guy. I know his voice probably doesn’t sound like it does in my head, in real life I mean. I just get this feeling.” Taemin responded.

 

“You are probably right. Often you just know things about your soulmate, even without having met them. When did you hear his voice then?” She smiled, clearly happy that her son had been matched up with his soulmate that early.

“3:45 AM of all times. He seemed to be working on something, and he seemed rather stressed. He woke me up, and I think he heard me as well. He seemed surprised. I hope him working on things late at night isn’t going to become a habit. Just the fragmented sentences can be sort of annoying.” Taemin sighed.

 

“It gets better with time. For once you get used to having another person’s voice in your head at all times, and it would feel empty if their voice should disappear. Also, when you meet them for the first time, the words in your head changes from fragments to complete sentences.” His mother took his hand to reassure him.

“Oh look at the time!” Taemin said. At this point he was going to be late for school. He had gotten so caught up in this entire soulmate thing.

 

“Go get your bag, I’ll drive you.” He sent a thankful glance at his mother. His school wasn’t far away, but he didn’t want to be late. As he ran back to his room to get his backpack he heard the voice in his head again.

_“Soulmate, late, really? Bad, should really, on time, school.”_

 

As far as he understood it, his soulmate had said something along the lines of ‘Soulmate? Are you late for school, really? You should really learn to get to school on time.’ At least that’s what Taemin thought he meant. _“Shut up, old man.”_ He thought on repeat.

_“Brat, heard that.”_

The voice sounded grumpy. _“Good.”_ He thought.

 

***

 

In the end, Taemin did make it to school on time. He had 5 minutes before his first class started even. He went to his locker and there he ran into one of his friends, as their lockers were right next to each other. Jongin looked decidedly more awake than himself, but then again, Jongin probably hadn’t been woken up in the middle of the night by some voice in his head.

 

“You look like shit. What happened?” Jongin asked, shooting him a curious and somewhat judgemental look.

“Good morning to you too.” Taemin grumbled, searching for his history book. “My soulmate decided that it was time for our minds to connect at 3:45 AM. When he was working on something, while I wanted to sleep.”

 

“Soulmate? Wait, what the fuck? I thought you shouldn’t start hearing thoughts before you turned 18?” Jongin asked, looking befuddled. They started walking towards class, as they had the same subject first period.

“Well, until recently, I thought so as well. Apparently though, only one of the parties involved have to turn 18 before the connection happens. And let me tell you, it is not as glamorous as the stories say.”  Taemin said. The teacher entered the classroom right after they did, so their conversation ended rather abruptly.

 

***

 

Taemin was sitting in class and listening to the teacher drone on about the French Revolution, when his head was suddenly occupied with someone else’s thoughts.

_“Physics, boring, tired, Jinki, annoying.”_

So apparently Mr. Soulmate was in class as well. He wondered who this Jinki person could be. Maybe it was one of his friends. He thought it was strange. He didn’t even know this guy’s name, yet he felt so close to him. He guessed that was the effect of sharing thoughts with somebody. His brain suddenly registered someone was speaking to him.

 

“Mr. Lee. What was it you were thinking about that was clearly much more important than listening to my lecture?” His teacher asked.

“I’m sorry Miss. It’s nothing.” He looked down. For some reason Jongin felt the urge to contribute to the mess he had already put himself in.

 

“His mind had been awfully busy lately. He was clearly thinking of someone special.” Jongin smirked. Taemin looked at him. If only looks could kill, Taemin thought.

“Special? Like what?” His teacher asked. Oh my god, why couldn’t she just let it go.

“Oh, his mind has been positively _buzzing_ today.” Jongin grinned.

 

“Wait, you don’t mean… Taemin, have you been assigned your soulmate already?” She looked at him with extreme fascination. Taemin groaned.

It was much more common for people to get their soulmates in the 17-22-year range. It was rare to get it earlier than that, even though Taemin knew of a few in his school who had been assigned soulmates already.

 

“Well, yeah, I suppose.” Taemin mumbled. He didn’t really feel like being in the spotlight, not for this at least. It’s not like he could help it.

“Wow, congratulations! Not many are as lucky as you, some have to wait years!” The teacher, including apparently the rest of the class, had perked up noticeably. Subconsciously, even the teacher seemed to agree that this was far more exciting than the French Revolution.

“Lucky, sure.” Taemin grumbled. This was going to be a long day.

 

***

 

Because Jongin apparently had a fucking condition that involved never being able to shut his mouth, he was the talk of the school by lunchtime. The 15-year-old with the new-found soulmate was apparently the most exciting thing in the world, and everyone just had to know all the details. He was congratulated by so many people, most of whom he didn’t even know who they were.

As he walked into the cafeteria he was in the spotlight once again. People were staring, and most likely talking about him.

 

_“Soulmate, stressed? Lunch, Jinki, shut up, attention, why?”_

The fluidity of his soulmate’s sentences varied greatly. Sometimes they were just random words, and other times they were almost akin to proper sentences. They couldn’t be that far away from each other then. _“Because of you. Because I found my soulmate young.”_ He thought. He hoped his soulmate caught that. He went to find his friends as he pondered this.

 

“Oh my god, you are such an asshole.” Kibum exclaimed, once he sat down.

“Hello, Kibum. What have I done wrong today?” Taemin responded, honestly getting sick of people today.

“I had to hear that you had found your soulmate through gossip. Why didn’t you tell me? I even had to hear it from Luna! You aren’t even that close!” Kibum complained. Luna, aka Park Sunyoung (most people refer to her as Luna), was nice enough. He certainly hadn’t told her though.

 

“Okay, first of all, I haven’t _found_ my soulmate. We haven’t met, he just decided to invade my head at ass o’clock last night. Secondly, I haven’t seen you all day. We’re not even in the same year, what was I supposed to do. Thirdly, I didn’t tell Luna. Jongin mentioned it in class, and apparently afterwards told everyone that attends this school.” Taemin replied. That shut Kibum up for a while. He was so tired.

 

_“Soulmate, young? How young? Why, scandal?”_

I forgot he doesn’t know my age, Taemin thought. He was right to be concerned. _“15, 15, 15”_ He thought. He thought that should do it.

 

“You could have texted me or something.” Kibum grumbled. “I may also be bitter because you found your soulmate before me. I’m happy for you though. What’s his name?”

“I don’t know.” Taemin said. He decided that eating his lunch was a better use of his time than having this conversation.

 

“You don’t know? Ask him! Aren’t you the least bit curious?” He should have known Kibum would get really into this soulmate thing.

“Not right now at least. It can wait.” And it could. He was already being bombarded by information, and he didn’t feel that the urge to know his name was that strong.

 

 _“Bit young, 18 ‘self, hungry.”_ At least he was thinking about him a bit. _“Go eat”_ Taemin thought.

 

“Can you hear him right now?” Kibum asked. He was really not giving up.

“Yes, just heard him. It’s really not that exciting.” He was getting tired of people telling him how much of a gift this was, and how great it was. He was fine with it, but he was just not _that_ excited.

 

***

 

Once he got home, he flopped down on his bed. It had been a tiring day, and he almost hoped someone else found their soulmate tomorrow, so they could be the centre of attention instead. As soon as he closed his eyes he heard the voice.

_“Soulmate, awake, awake?”_

 

Well, I am now at least, Taemin sighed. _“Yes, fine, awake.”_ He thought back.

 _“Soulmate, name, don’t know, name please?”_ the voice said.

 

The voice was apparently concerned about details. But it would be nice, knowing his name. Then he wouldn’t have to constantly refer to him as ‘the voice’ or ‘soulmate’. _“Lee, Taemin. Taemin, Taemin.”_

_“Taemin? Taemin, soulmate, happy.”_

 

Taemin smiled at that. “ _Name? Your name?”_ He thought back.

 _“Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun.”_ And the voice had a name. Finally.

 

 _“Cool, sleep now.”_ Taemin thought. Jonghyun. He liked that name. Jonghyun, Jonghyun, Jonghyun. Taemin smiled to himself.

 

***

 

It had now been about two months since Taemin started hearing his soulmate’s thoughts. It hadn’t been that long, but he had gotten so used to Jonghyun’s voice now. He wouldn’t have it any other way. Taemin walked downstairs to make breakfast. He had the day off from school today, and it was currently noon on a Friday. His mother didn’t have work today either, so he greeted her on his way downstairs.

 

“Hey Mum, can I ask you something?” His mother was currently making coffee, and nodded in response.

“At what time is it normal for soulmates to meet?” Taemin asked. He had heard fragments of Jonghyun’s thoughts in his head for a while now, and he wondered when he was going to get to hear everything in completion.

 

 _“Taemin, meet, maybe, coffee, finally, Jinki, annoying”_ Jonghyun’s thoughts made an appearance.

Oops. The downside of your soulmate hearing your thoughts, was that you couldn’t keep anything from them. He guessed that was sort of a pro and a con in one.

 

“Well, there is no real set time. Your father and I met after about half a year, but there was a number of reasons for that. Some people find one another at once, some discover that their soulmates is already someone they know well, some wait years, and some spend years searching for their soulmates.” She paused. “And some people doesn’t want to be found. It varies based on the people involved.”

 

“I’m not sure if I’m ready yet, but I’m getting used to him always being in my head. I’m just afraid, what if he won’t like me? Maybe he just sees me as some brat that invaded his head one day?” Taemin sniffled a little. He wanted to be loved, and he had just recently realized it.

He knew very little about Jonghyun. He knew that he had a passion for music, one that kept him and Taemin up late at night. He knew lots of his friends’ names. He knew he liked coffee, a lot. He knew that Jonghyun thought about him a lot.

 

 _“Soulmate, thinking, me? Heard, name, worry?”_ Jonghyun’s voice said. _“It’s nothing”_ He thought back.

 

“He’s not going to be like that. I don’t know what this Jonghyun is like, but he wouldn’t do that to you. Also, you’re not a brat, not all the time at least.” She smiled. “It’s not like you are some kid anyways. You are 15, and rather mature for your age. The time will come for the two of you to meet, and he will most likely fall in love at first sight.”

Taemin walked over and hugged his mother. She was probably right, he worried too much. Nevertheless, he was still curious.

 

“What does it feel like when you meet your soulmate? Like, how do you know it’s really them?” Taemin asked. People said there was a special feeling when you met your soulmate, but he had no idea what they meant.

“It’s difficult to describe it. I guess it feels like you just found a piece of yourself that you didn’t know you missed. It feels like a warm summer breeze, or a really good hug.” She paused. “It’s so comfortable, and right. You just feel like you never want to be away from them ever again. That feeling lingers a lot every time you meet their gaze afterwards, but it’s always strongest the first time.”

 

Taemin had just started to go to his mother every time he had an issue with this soulmate situation. She was so good with words, no wonder she did so well in her job as a journalist.

“I guess that makes sense. Thanks a lot Mum.” He said, retreating to his bedroom.

 

_“Taemin, Taemin, Taemin, music, have to make”_

He had been thinking about Taemin an awful lot lately. He was constantly talking about something he had to finish, or show him, or whatever. He seemed rather busy _. “Are you okay?”_ He thought.

 

_“Fine, busy, Taemin, must, Taemin, proud, song”_

Taemin was pretty sure he would be proud of Jonghyun, and probably fond of him whatever he did. Jonghyun worried too much. Maybe that’s where he got it from.

 

***

 

_“Have to, right, good enough, Taemin.”_

That was the first thing Taemin heard as he awoke that night. He groaned and looked at the clock on his phone. What he saw there made him groan again. 4:30 AM. On the dot.

 

_“Soon, finished, Taemin, awake, why, awake, Taemin”_

Taemin just wanted to sleep. Today was the last day of school before summer holiday. At least it seemed his darling soulmate was finished soon. He didn’t know if it meant that he was finished for tonight, or finished with his project for good. Maybe he should ask. _“Finished now, or finished forever?”_ He assumed that thinking in simple sentences made it more likely for the thought to be transferred in an understanding manner.

 

_“Finished forever. Sorry, waking, up.”_

Well, he hoped at least he wouldn’t be woken up so early for a while. He assumed the last part meant something along the lines of ‘sorry for waking you up’. _“It’s okay.”_ Taemin thought.

 

***

 

“You know, ironically, ever since you were assigned your soulmate you have been grumpy as fuck in the mornings.” Jongin said, as they walked through the school gates.

“Sorry, he has a tendency of either waking me up, or keeping me up until late at night.” Taemin grumbled. He wasn’t a morning person to start with, so this really wasn’t helpful.

 

“Doing what?” Jongin raised an eyebrow.

“Composing music mostly. That’s what it sounds like at least.” Taemin shrugged.

 

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Let us just hope that after the two of you meet, he’ll be keeping you up at night for a better reason.” Jongin smirked, clearly proud of himself for that one. Taemin hit him.

“Jesus, you’ll be the last person I’ll introduce him to.”

 

***

 

It was the first day of Taemin’s newly granted summer vacation. He was planning on meeting Kibum in Hongdae so they could go shopping. Apparently Taemin had an awful sense of style and Kibum loved having a project. He had said something along the lines of: “I am aware you are a 15 year old boy, but that doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it.” Whatever that meant.

They were wandering around Hongdae, and browsing through random stores. For almost every shop they were in Kibum would stop by a shelf, hold something up in front of Taemin, make either a noise of approval or a noise of displeasure, and move on.

 

After merely an hour of shopping he had gotten three new shirts, two pairs of skinny jeans, a bunch of bracelets, scarves and other accessories, and a new pair of sunglasses. People could say what they wanted about Kibum’s obsession with fashion, but he knew what he was doing, and he was efficient. They were walking towards the closest Starbucks when Taemin heard something and stopped.

 _“Ah, I’m so bored. Maybe I, work.”_ Jonghyun’s voice said in his head. That was almost a complete sentence. That was almost a complete sentence!

 

“That was almost a complete sentence!” Taemin exclaimed.

“What?” Kibum asked, a confused look grazed his face.

 

“I heard Jonghyun. In my head. Usually it’s just fragments and bits and pieces. What I heard this time was not. Don’t you know what this means?!” Taemin felt almost hysteric. He thought their first meeting should be really romantic and planned thoughtfully.

“That he’s really close? Oh Taemin, what if you find him today?”

 

“He must be. I don’t know if I’m ready!” Taemin was having trouble breathing.

“Sure you are. You have been babbling about meeting this guy for days. Send him a thought, or whatever the fuck it’s called. Get him to tell you where he is!” Kibum demanded. Taemin guessed he was right. They couldn’t really just leave now, or pretend this didn’t happen.

 

 _“Where are you right now? You must be close; I can almost hear you properly.”_ Taemin thought. He hoped and begged that Jonghyun heard him as good as he heard Jonghyun.

 _“Really? I’m, Hongdae. At a café called ‘Hello, Stranger’.”_ Jonghyun thought back.

 

“He’s in Hongdae as well, at this coffee shop called ‘Hello, Stranger’. Do you know where that is?” Taemin said.

“Yeah, it’s literally just around the corner. In the side street. The name is suiting.” Kibum said.

 _“I’m on my way.”_ Taemin thought.

 

“But, before we go there, we need to go somewhere else. There’s a Starbucks here. We’ll go into the bathroom there and get you fixed up. You can’t meet your soulmate looking like that.” Kibum said snarkily.

“Okay, okay, okay.” Taemin said, trying to calm himself down.

 

_“Oh God, oh God, oh God. Taemin’s coming. Have to look good.”_

“Kibummie, what can I do. He’s panicking inside my head, there’s no way to not panic.” Taemin complained as he was forcefully dragged into the Starbucks bathroom.

 

“You are a mess.” He commented as he started picking things out of the shopping bags and threw them at Taemin. “Go change, now. You don’t want to be late to see your soulmate, do you?”

 

Taemin walked into the stall and changed into the clothes Kibum picked out for him. There was a white printed t-shirt, with black and red details, a pair of ripped skinny jeans, a red flannel and a brown braided leather bracelet. Once he’d put everything on, he stepped outside.

“No, idiot, not like this.” Kibum tore the flannel off him and tied it around his waist. “It’s not like you need it for warmth.” Kibum continued to readjust his clothes until he was pleased. He handed Taemin a pair of round sunglasses, and tried to fix his hair. He gave up quite quickly on the hair though, and just ruffled it a bit.

 

 _“Taemin, where are you?”_ Jonghyun thought. _“I needed to do a thing, coming now.”_ Taemin replied.

“Are we ready?” Taemin asked himself as much as Kibum.

 

“Okay, let’s go. I can walk you there if you’re nervous?” Kibum asked. The blood disappeared from Taemin’s face.

“You were going to just leave me?” He squeaked.

“I don’t need to hold your hand the entire time, do I? I’ll walk you over, and then I can leave. If it goes horrible, I’ll be nearby, just give me a call.” Kibum said. “You can do this!”

“Okay, okay. Let’s go.”

 

The walk from the Starbucks to ‘Hello, Stranger’ was short, but still nerve-racking. They stopped in front of a cozy-looking café. Taemin was just staring at the entrance, and not moving.

_“Taemin is going to be here soon, Taemin is near. Oh my God I’m so stressed.”_

 

“I just realized something.” Taemin said. Kibum gave him a look that signalled him to continue. “I have no idea what he looks like.” That made Kibum laugh. Taemin was still horrified.

“You’ll know it when you see him. That’s what everyone says at least.” Kibum said. “Go get him, kid. It’ll be fine. I’m sure he’s as nervous as you are.”

“Oh, he is. I can hear it, remember? That is not really comforting.”

“ **Go**.” Kibum commanded, and pushed him forward. Taemin entered the café.

 

The coffee shop was really pretty. The walls were white, and decorated with panels of oak and several paintings and concert posters. There was calming music playing, and everyone who worked here looked really friendly.

 

He looked around the coffee shop, when someone in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned around, and he felt a strange pull towards the boy in front of him. He had bleached blonde hair, was wearing a hat, a soft-looking cotton t-shirt, ripped light-coloured jeans and black converse. He started walking towards the person in front of him, almost mesmerised.

Their gazes met, and suddenly all of Taemin’s anxiety dissipated. He felt tranquil, complete, and like nothing could ever be wrong again. It felt like coming home after being away for a long time.

 

 _“Oh my God, he is so cute.”_ Jonghyun thought at the same time Taemin thought; _“Oh my God, he is so handsome.”_ They felt something merge, and suddenly they could hear each other’s every thought.

“Taemin, I presume?” Jonghyun spoke, and wow, his voice sounded like honey. Taemin nodded.

“Jonghyun.” Taemin said simply. Jonghyun stood up.

 

“This might be a bit forward, but can I hug you?” Jonghyun asked. Taemin could do nothing but nod. He walked over to Jonghyun, and the older embraced him tightly.

If Taemin had felt a sense of completion before, it was nothing compared to now. He just wanted to be as close as possible to Jonghyun. He almost wanted to kiss him, but that might be too much, considering they just met.

 

 _“You’re perfect.”_ Jonghyun thought.

 _“You are as well.”_ Taemin replied.

 

***

 

They had stayed at ‘Hello, Stranger’ for about an hour and chatted, until Jonghyun suggested they should leave the place and go for a walk. Taemin complied easily, and they walked out of the café, hand in hand. They were being really touchy, not minding at all that this was their first time seeing one another in person. The soulmate bond was a strange thing. It made you just want to be close to your soulmate and never let them out of your sight.

 

“Taemin, can I ask you something?” Jonghyun said. Half the time they didn’t bother talking out loud, as their bond rendered that unnecessary.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead.” Taemin replied, tangling their fingers together.

 

“Do you want to come home with me? I have something I want to show you.” Jonghyun asked, biting his lip. Taemin sent him a questioning look, raising an eyebrow. Jonghyun noticed the look and panicked a bit.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” Taemin laughed. “Aren’t you a bit too young to be thinking about those kind of things anyways?”

 

“I wasn’t thinking of anything.” Taemin smirked.

 _“Are you forgetting that I can read your thoughts?”_ Jonghyun thought. Taemin’s eyes widened, and this time it was Jonghyun’s turn to laugh.

 

“Sure, I can come to your place. Is it close?” Taemin mumbled. Jonghyun nodded in response.

 

***

 

Once they arrived at Jonghyun’s house, Taemin noticed that it was empty. _“His parents must be at work or something.”_ Taemin thought. There was no way an 18-year-old had a house like this to themselves.

“They are; they’ll be home in a couple of hours.” Jonghyun replied out loud. He led Taemin up to his room. Jonghyun had quite a large bedroom, and included to the standard things that went in a bedroom, he had a keyboard and a big stationary computer. _“Maybe this is where he does all his work in the middle of the night.”_ Taemin thought. He received a simple _“Yes.”_ In reply.

 

“Sorry for waking you up a lot, by the way. I had a good reason for doing so, at least as of late. That’s what I wanted to show you.” Jonghyun murmured. He went to sit down in front of his computer. Taemin sat at one of the chairs next to him.

Taemin waited for Jonghyun to search through his files until he found what he was looking for. It was an audio file with the name "To Taemin.”

 

Taemin felt himself blush at that. When Jonghyun clicked the file, it opened an audio editing program. Jonghyun took a deep breath. He clicked play.

_“Please let him like it, please let him like it.”_

 

An instrumental tune started playing. It was piano based, and so lovely. It calmed him about in the same way that Jonghyun’s presence did. After about 3 minutes the song ended, and Taemin’s mouth had opened in amazement.

“I didn’t know how good it was, and I hope it was worth waking you up so much…” Jonghyun was stopped by Taemin hugging him tight.

 _“I love it, I love it, I love it. Thank you so much.”_ Taemin thought. Jonghyun smiled.

 

“Jonghyun, I just wondered. I know you don’t want to come on too strong, and I know we just met…” Taemin paused. He was so nervous. _“Can I kiss you?”_ He thought.

_“Are you sure? I don’t want to ever force you into something you’re not comfortable with.”_

 

 _“I am sure.”_ Taemin thought as he leaned forward.

Jonghyun’s lips were soft. Taemin felt the same feeling that he did when they first met. Was all their firsts going to be like this? He would really like that. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I decided to try writing a soulmate!au, as it is one of my favourite types of au's. I was reading one of taekaitbh's stories, which left me really inspired. This got a lot longer than expected, btw. I know I should be focusing on updating my other stories, but I just had to get this out of the way first.
> 
> So, what did you think? I love to hear your responses, so don't be afraid to comment. If you find any typos or have any complaints about how I write the characters, don't be afraid to tell me that either. I read all your comments, and they are my favourite thing about writing fics.
> 
> Love you lots.^^
> 
>  
> 
> Edit: Rest in peace, Jonghyun. You will be dearly missed.


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